{"id":7706,"date":"2019-11-21T10:10:39","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T21:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/?p=7706"},"modified":"2019-11-22T11:54:34","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T22:54:34","slug":"the-value-of-finding-your-phd-tribe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/?p=7706","title":{"rendered":"The Value of Finding your PhD Tribe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve just come back from a gathering of 80 M\u0101ori and indigenous\nPhD students at Puketeraki Marae at Karit\u0101ne in North Otago. We\u2019re all members\nof a national PhD scholars\u2019 network called Te\nKupenga o MAI<\/a> (the net of MAI); the acronym stands for M\u0101ori and\nIndigenous, and there are MAI groups in most of the universities in Aotearoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The network is financially supported by the M\u0101ori Centre of\nResearch Excellence, Ng\u0101 Pae o te\nM\u0101ramatanga<\/a> and thanks to Ng\u0101 Pae, from a Thursday afternoon to a Sunday\nmorning, we gathered to present our work to each other, discuss the challenges\nof the PhD journey and share our research tips and perspectives as M\u0101ori and\nindigenous peoples in universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was there as a member of MAI ki Aronui, the AUT arm of the network. MAI ki Aronui is the tribe that helped me get through my PhD. At the conference, we numbered 19, mostly M\u0101ori. But my tribe also had two Pacific people, two Latin Americans, a Yemeni, a Mauritian and a Taiwanese. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being at the conference and enjoying the company of\nlike-minded people got me thinking about the need for every PhD student to find\nhis or her own tribe to stay the course. Every doctoral student needs fellow\ntravellers who understand what a PhD is, who can help them through the\ninevitable up and downs, and with whom they can speak academese (ontology and\nepistemology and methodology, oh my!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I started my PhD in 2016, I didn\u2019t have a tribe; MAI at\nAUT had been in abeyance for some years. When not on fieldwork, I was at home\non my own, writing; I ran a home-based business to pay the bills, so I needed\nto be there rather than on campus. It meant that I wasn\u2019t meeting many other\nM\u0101ori doctoral students. Although I have a fabulous husband who is a PhD-qualified\nstatistician and therefore understands the doctoral process, I was often isolated\nphysically and socially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massey researcher Marion Lara Tan summed up her experience of isolation on that university\u2019s doctoral blog, The Scholar\u2019s Lounge<\/a>, and it\u2019s worth repeating: \u201cOften I experience isolation in two forms: Perceived isolation, feeling that no one else understands what I am going through and actual isolation, distancing myself from peers or supervisors. These two forms of isolation develop into a vicious cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added, \u201cAs a student, I tend to distance myself from\npeers or supervisors if I feel I do not have sufficient progress; nursing the\nsentiment that I need to figure things out for myself before involving others.\nBut the lack of engagement causes others not to understand my work; hence,\nfeeding the perception of being misunderstood. Then this increased feeling of\nisolation makes me hesitate to approach others, creating a dangerous\nreinforcing loop.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion broke this loop through finding a peer network of\nother PhD students. In early 2018, when MAI was revived at AUT by Te Ara Poutama\nlecturer Dr\nJani Wilson<\/a>, it became my PhD tribe. MAI aims to support, nurture and\nchallenge its members, who come from a range of disciplines, to become\nexceptional PhD graduates through capacity-building activities and friendship\nin an unapologetically kaupapa M\u0101ori environment. So on the agenda at our\nmonthly Saturday morning meetings at the AUT marae, Ng\u0101 Wai o Horotiu, there\nmight be a mock PGR9, a talk from an experienced academic on a PhD-related\ntopic, or a discussion of the issues that arise on the doctoral journey. And because\nit\u2019s kaupapa M\u0101ori, there\u2019s haka! All members perform, and we have also learned\nsongs in the languages of our Mangarevan and Samoan members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MAI meetings take place on the same weekend that Te Ara\nPoutama (TAP), the M\u0101ori studies faculty, runs its catered block courses for\nmasters students, and we are very grateful that TAP feeds its lovely lunches to\nMAI members as well. Having both masters and doctoral students on site to share\nkai (food) promotes useful whakawhanaungatanga (relationship-building). After\nlunch, although our MAI hui (meeting) is technically over, it\u2019s not unusual for\ninformal study-related activities to continue in the whare kai (dining hall),\nwith, say, some one-on-one PGR9 coaching taking place at one table and discussion\nof a joint conference proposal at another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The benefits of belonging to a research community like this include\na greater likelihood of completing one\u2019s PhD; completing the degree in good\ntime; and making the journey more enjoyable and less stressful (Conrad, 2006). MAI\nhas given me a safe space to be my authentic M\u0101ori self, and in its embrace I\nhave made firm friends, tested out presentations, sought feedback and built my\nconfidence as a fledgling academic. The week of the conference, two of us\nsubmitted our theses; our colleagues\u2019 delight for us was genuine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had MAI not been revived, I might have looked at the list of groups<\/a> that the Graduate Research School (GRS) supports and joined one of those. There\u2019s plenty of choice, with 13 groups at present, ranging from the Distance Students Group to the Art & Design Queer Reading Group through to the MH206 Wh\u0101nau, a new group for PhD students based at South campus (the name comes from the postgraduate room where they meet). Or I might have taken the advice of Fisher (2006) in creating a tribe of my own (talk to Anaise Irvine<\/a> if you would like to do this).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked my fellow MAI members the benefits of the MAI tribe\nas PhD peer support, and here are some of the comments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMAI is the wh\u0101nau you never knew you always needed, giving you connection on a journey that\u2019s often quite isolating.\u201d <\/p> Deborah Heke, Ng\u0101puhi<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMAI wh\u0101nau is about tautoko [support] and manaaki [care and compassion], a safe space while navigating Western academia. We get inspiration and strength to do research in our own native ways.\u201d <\/p> Diana Albarr\u00e1n Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a>, Mexico<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Discovering MAI has been like being tossed a lifeline while drowning at sea. I am very grateful to find my MAI wh\u0101nau. They accept me as I am, although I am rough around the edges, and give critical feedback in a safe and caring way. We are strong, together.<\/p>Cecelia Faumuina, Tonga & Samoa<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When I started my PhD, I was enthusiastic and excited about my study. Then, along the way, the study got hard, and I felt stressed and deflated. The MAI wh\u0101nau embraced me (manaaki), helped me find my passion for my study again (tautoko), and reminded me that the PhD journey can be fun; that’s how it should be. I think the value of MAI to me isn’t just for me as a student, rather, MAI helps me develop into a more compassionate person and a better scholar. I am lucky to have a wh\u0101nau like MAI ki Aronui.<\/p>Chien-ju Ting<\/a>, Taiwan<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMAI teaches you everything that isn\u2019t in the Postgraduate Handbook.\u201d <\/p> Toiroa Williams, Te Whakat\u014dhea, Ngai Tai, Te Wh\u0101nau-a-Apanui<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
MAI ki Aronui members outside Te P\u016brengi, the whare nui at AUT. Photo: Simon Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Being in MAI means haka! Practicing our waiata \u0101-ringa MAI ki Aronui<\/em>, which was written by coordinator Dr Jani Wilson (front right). Photo: Simon Smith <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Below, pictures of MAI ki Aronui members from the conference\nTe Kupenga o MAI, Puketeraki Marae, Karit\u0101ne, North Otago, November 14-17,\n2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Having a sing outside Huirapa, the whare nui at Puketeraki Marae. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Rumen Rachev, Toiroa Williams and Chien-ju Ting. Photo: Atakohu Middleton <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
In the whare kai, Maririhau, at the MAI doctoral conference. Clockwise from bottom left, Diana Albarr\u00e1n Gonz\u00e1lez, Rumen Rachev, Jani Wilson, Jenni Tupu, Cecelia Faumuina, Toiroa Williams, Nabil Sabra and Natascha Diaz Cardona. Photo: Natascha Diaz Cardona.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conrad, L. (2006). Countering\nIsolation: Joining the Research Community. In Denholm, C.,  Evans, T. (Eds.) Doctorates Downunder: Keys to Successful Doctoral Study in Australia\nand New Zealand<\/em> (pp. 34-40). Victoria, Australia: ACER Press.  <\/p>

Fisher, K. (2006) Peer Support Groups. In Denholm, C., and Evans, T., (Eds.) Doctorates Downunder: Keys to Successful Doctoral Study in Australia and New Zealand (pp. 41-49) Victoria, Australia: ACER Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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